PocketLinux at Comdex 2000

The entire day was not lost however since the Microsoft Pocket PC Fan Fest was being held at Bally’s Skyview at 7pm. I was one of the 8 folks placed on a list in a “Where’s Waldo” type contest where Fan Fest attendees were tasked with finding all eight “Waldos” and getting them to beam their business card to them. Those who got all 8 were placed in a drawing for a Pocket PC. I was wearing my PDABuzz.com shirt so I wasn’t that hard to find, but I also was usually hanging out in the corner in my typical hermit fashion so you still had to look for me. At around 8pm, the response to this contest was sparse at best, I had heard a few people mention that finding 8 people out of the 500 in attendance was “too much work” but once Derek Brown upped the ante (we were in Vegas remember) to the GPS system in addition to a Pocket PC of their choice, people got interested … and fast. It was hilarious to see all the tables vacated within 30 seconds of the announcement with everyone on the hunt for the 8 elusive Pocket PC “celebs”. My plan of being the “missing link” was working out perfectly until Dale Coffing, being the great guy that he is stood up and yelled out … “Hey everyone, Wes Salmon from PDABuzz is RIGHT OVER THERE!!!” At that point, I was mobbed by eager Pocket PC users begging for my IR signal. It’s a bit surreal to have 20+ people standing in a group around you, all with IR ports aimed right at you, waiting anxiously for their turn to grab your contact information.